Welcome to Transfigurations! This blog is intended to serve the orthodox Anglican community and the wider Christian community. We pray that all that is posted here will be faithful to the Scriptures as the inspired word of God, speak the truth in love, edify, bless and transform this local body of Christ, and be an impetus for revival, repentance, prayer and intercession!

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Scrolling around...January 31, 2013

Egypt to Receive F-16s
...The news that the Obama administration would uphold an aid package to Egypt that included the military hardware prompted concern on Capitol Hill from lawmakers who said the deal was not prudent given the political situation in Egypt, where Muslim Brotherhood-backed President Mohammed Morsi has clashed with democratic protestors...

The Fascinating French Coalition to Save Marriage
...But in France, as Robert Oscar Lopez shows in an eye-opening Public Discourse essay today, there is a real debate happening, and it crosses the usual ideological lines. There we see vocal members of the gay community, liberals all, linking arms with conservative defenders of marriage. Their common ground? That it is wrong to think that anyone has a right to children, and that we should instead be thinking of the right of children. What right is that? The right of each child to his or her own mother and father. That is what marriage is all about...

Don’t Go to Grad School
...But the real disruption is on the way. As I noted to my colleague, so many universities are now providing courses free on the internet (In the past year, I’ve watched a course on game theory from Yale, a course on political theory from Oxford, and a number of assorted lectures from a variety of universities. All were excellent. All were free and available on my iPad). As soon as some enterprising organization decides to allow students to take whatever courses they want online, administer exams, and credential students, the prevailing model of higher education will find itself under a significant assault. Certainly, there will always be wealthy parents who want their children to attend a “name brand” university or elite liberal arts college largely as a means of signaling their social status to their peers (those university stickers really dress up that old Volvo). But I am dubious that these institutions will still see the merit of tenure, and even if they do, there will be far fewer positions available to the stunning number of PhDs who are on the market...

Students of propaganda may admire the skill with which she misdirected people’s attention. But those of us who are still old-fashioned enough to think that the truth matters cannot applaud her success...What Difference Does It Make?

Crisis and Constitution: Hitler’s Rise to Power
...Hitler’s rise to power is a sobering story of how a crisis and calls for quick solutions can tempt citizens and leaders to subvert the rule of law and ignore a country’s constitutional safeguards. Adolf Hitler swore to protect Germany’s constitution, yet he pursued expanded “temporary” executive power that circumvented due process for the sake of the “safety” and “protection” of the people. Germany’s descent into totalitarianism is yet another example of how calls to concentrate decision-making in the executive branches, as we now see all over the world, too easily set the stage for political, social, and moral evil. On this dark anniversary, it would serve us well to remember that among the best protections citizens have against tyranny and oppression is insistence that all, including politicians, be held accountable to the same laws and that due process is always honored. These guarantees should be part of a system where decision-making is dispersed, not concentrated, because, as Lord Acton reminds us, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolutely power corrupts absolutely.”

Albert Mohler: Limping Between Two Opinions: The Moral Evacuation of the Boy Scouts of America
...This capitulation and the abandonment of the B.S.A.’s longstanding policy will, in the end, please no one. The new policy is a half-measure that amounts to a cowardly moral evasion. No group can remain divided on a question of such moral importance and urgency. Homosexual conduct and relationships will be condemned or celebrated. There is no middle ground. Back in 2004, the B.S.A. maintained that homosexual conduct is “inconsistent” with the “morally straight” requirement of the Scout Oath. Now, the B.S.A. will claim to have no position whatsoever on the issue. This fails the test of seriousness.

Those who believe that homosexual conduct is sin cannot endorse the new local option policy, and Scouting units that hold to this position will inevitably be marginalized. Those who celebrate and demand the normalization of homosexuality, on the other hand, cannot and will not be satisfied with a half-measure like a local option...

Baptist Leaders Predict 'Mass Exodus' From Scouts Over Gay Leader Decision
..."This is a catastrophic decision for the Boy Scouts of America. In order to placate their East and West Coast appendages, they are tearing out the heart of their Midwest and Southern support. This decision will lead to a mass exodus of traditional, orthodox Christianity from the Boy Scouts, including thousands of Catholic, Baptist and other traditional faith congregations," Dr. Richard Land, speaking in his role as head of SBC's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, told The Christian Post... So long, Catholic Boy Scouts?